Loton Park 14th Aug 2011

We arrived at the venue early evening on Saturday and got a good spot for the caravan. Setting up did not take long and pretty soon we had called the local curry house for a delivery. Well fed we then checked out the track with a well needed walk, it's always interesting finding the occasional black lines heading off the tarmac and leading into the scenery, followed of course by a debate how on the situation had arisen and the possible outcome for both driver and car! At the top of hill we came across maybe 7-6 dear roaming / running around, Jess had some binoculars so we stayed a while to observe. We spotted a massive stag on the horizon with huge antlers, a proper beast, really very impressive.  Mikey (my 3 year old) was running around having a right old laugh at least until he tripped over himself and followed up with a superman dive onto his face, landing on tarmac was never gonna be great and sure enough we had the blood and tears to prove it. I was pretty worried at first but he recovered OK, we then headed back to camp in preparation for tomorrows event.

Scrutineer inspection went well - no problems and we signed on. Last time out I picked up a class win but didn't have chance to hang about for the presentation so I had arranged to collect it at this meeting, I went off to find my trophy from a marshal called Roy - Thanks mate...

It was actually a lot bigger in size than I expected, of course I took great pleasure in making sure Rab had a good look!

I was due to run first this time out, I prepared for my first practise run deciding that I needed to push on to ensure I got into race mode quickly. On cold tyres and first up the hill I was aiming for a low 68, I was happy therefore to see a 67.65 - that's a good start to the day.

I returned to the paddock and swapped over with Rab, this time he manged to remember we had fitted the video camera so we got this one on film:

Rab ran a 67.90 so a good start for him also. I had a feeling it was going to be close today.

Heading toward the 2nd run I have to admit to feeling ......well.....up for it really. I had a good feel for the track and the lines, Grip was not great (cold tyres I suspect) but I wasn't too worried, I certainly wanted to put out a good time - just to keep Rab on his toes !

Started well and had definitely picked up my speed from run 1, late and quick through turn 1, allowed me to carry 3rd faster through loggerheads and felt good about the drive I had in that section - confidence was increasing and I was sure this was building a good time. At triangle I used all the road on the exit as my campaign became more committed - I was enjoying this one....

Well that didn't work did it? Once out and checking out the car it was clear the day was over - in truth I suspected this before I got out of the car. The banking on the left which I drove up lead me to believe I might get away with this one, the rock on the way back down however was not having any of that plan. It hit the towing eye, pushed this back which folded out ward and down, in turn the inner wing twisted dropping the gearbox mounting low, this pushed the engine into the front rhd inner wing and threw the lhd drive shaft apart.

So with a bent car and damaged pride I had the recovery truck drive of shame! Perched up on the flat bed sat in the car for all my would be fans to see! 

Quote of the weekend:

Clerk of the course: What happened?

Bally: Lost it over there, ended up on the bank, and there's a bloody big rock hidden in the grass

Clerk of the course: That bloody big rock is actually called Shropshire mate!

Very funny.....

Apologies to Rab - That was an expensive day for him, 2 hours travelling and entry fee's just to get one 67s  run! whoops - He was'nt too bothered, lets face it we have now had 2 offs each and got away with 3 of them - a damaging off was as they say "in the post"

I admit shouldn't have gloated about my trophy - oh and maybe, just maybe, I shouldn't have tried quite so hard on a practice run!

The rebuild starts:

More to follow........

Garys TZR breathes again!

Special post today....First signs of life from a 1989 TZR 250......

Gary "the Nitro Plumber" Button will be very happy to see this:

Dyno runs

So before our next outing we took the opportunity to run the car on a dyno. The reasons stem from our ideas for a new motor build and part of that process should be based on what we have now. Certainly the current unit is not that fast, but it is easy to drive and reliable so has provided a great basis to start from. We needed to know not only how much power but more importantly the overall power characteristic.

The dyno run was booked with Northampton Motorsport (See links), we had used them some years ago to set up Rabs MK1 escort rally car - they did a great job then so seemed an obvious choice. We arrived for the first run of the day, we were greeted by a young chap who got the car strapped down. Following on the car was warmed through whilst the guy running the dyno set up a few base parameters - even double checking with us as he had immediately noted the short 4th gear ratio we have fitted. We took 3 runs averaging 98.5HP at the wheels - torque was pretty flat throughout, again reflecting our thoughts regards the easy driving nature of the motor. It also confirmed our thoughts over optimum gear change points, looks like anything over 6000Rpm in third is wasted effort.

We finished up and had a great chat about ignition system requirements for the new motor, including the likelihood of needing a programmable unit.

Again I cannot recommend these guys highly enough, if you want a good honest tuning company to assist your developments go and see them....we'll be going back for sure.

Loton Park 10th July 2011

Following on from the previous day we awoke to a bright sunny start. Today would see the drivers swap with Rab running first out and Andy second. The class entires were low, in fact only 3 drivers in class A1 & A2 and we accounted for two of them, meaning that we both had a shot of the top step. The other driver, Cedric Osbourne, was competing in a very tidy Metro GTi. We had met Cedric last season and knew both he and his 1.4 GTi were not to be underestimated (By his own admission he's been competing since 1974 on this piece of tarmac!). Given a recent engine rebuild the Metro was now running on Jenvey throttle bodies and a hotter camshaft. If his efforts paid off today then we were going to be hard pushed to beat him.

Rabs first run was pretty consrvative (69.88) - again part of the recovery plan from yesterdays events. My 1st run was reasonable (68.43), A slide going in to logger heads certainly lost some time, but in addition I was a little distracted by the exhaust note - it seemed to be blowing at the manifold??

We had a chance to get somthing to eat and we waited for run 2. Rab was showing good pace on this run and posted a 68.50, thats more like it! So Rab was indicating he was now "up for it" and that was fueling me to try a bit this time. However off the line the Car sounded awful, the exhaust was blowing really badly, a weird reasonance was tricking me into thinking it was mis-firing and as a result I was changing gear too early. The result was a 68.25 but it felt rubbish. I knew now that the exhaust was not going to make the next run without serious attention. Cedric had run  a 70s and a 74s set of runs - apparently a fueling issue was tripping him up. The "class" tension was now building and off track part of the competition was going to come down to pit repairs it seemed.

The exhaust repair was going to be awkward, the stainless manifold had split internally in the "flexi" coupling. We had limited tooling and no spare part. Time to get thinking, we needed to "sleeve" the coupling, so armed with a Stanley knife, 5 large jubilee clips, some exhaust paste and 3 empty cans of Guiness we set about the repair.

We fired up the motor and were rewarded with the sound of a succesful repair, we were not sure how long it would hold up but we would find out!.
Rab ran first after lunch, he posted a 68.64 so not far from the time he ran prior to lunch. He handed over the car and I was pleased to find the exhaust was holding up. I lined up, took a deep breath and prepared for my run. Lights went green and it all kicked off, I was prepared to push hard for a good time and as a result ran wide several times. Firstly I dropped two wheels over the curb exisiting loggerheads (more of a consequence of trying to avoid an early entry slide). Again ran wide into the last left, got sideways on the grass on the exit and then ran off exiting the final right. Crossed the line laughing to myself, "well that's not gonna be quick" I thought. Imagine my surprise, not a low 68, or a mid 67, or a low 67 but 66.80 - WOW - Guiness cans are fast!.

The exhaust was sounding a bit worse for wear but had held out for now - time for some additional repairs.
Cedric ran a 67.93 so things were looking better for him but not yet at the 65- 66 s I thought he might run. So at this point I was leading the class and Rab had expressed in no uncertain terms his disbelief at my time. (You ran a ******ing what time, for ****** sake, where did that come from?).

We added to the beer can repair with one Fosters and 2 Carlsberg's cans and by now the car was smelling pretty good! Sort of warm brewery meets hot exhaust gas - mmmm lovely! Last runs saw Rab put in a 67.75, that's close to as good as I could had managed on a cold car yesterday so fair play to him. The camera was playing up for him on that run so here's his first timed run:

Run 2 was pretty relaxed for me, I knew my efforts so far had ensured me at least 2nd overall, but unless Cedric pulled out something pretty amazing I had a good shot at a class win. That said the car was again blowing pretty badly. I figured a mid 67 would be fine and to be honest didn't think I would see a 66 again. The run was good, not as exciting as the previous and I crossed the line hopeful of my time. To see a 66.50 was astounding, another 0.3 quicker!

So a great weekend and as Cedric did not improve further I took my first class win!!!. Ok so I appreciate there was only 3 drivers and 2 cars in it and I knew my chances were good. However it makes a change from trying to compete with a 2.0 lightweight lotus or similar.

Conclusion: Gearbox mount was spot on, never missed a gear once. Circuit is great - the best hill climb in the UK (although we have a few yet to try before its official), must carry spare exhaust parts (or drink more Guiness) and ......oh yeah ....we still need MORE POWER!!!

Check Norbar Racing on you tube for more video action:

Loton Park 9th July 2011

We had run one event here last season and loved the place, so to make the most of a 2 hour journey we had entered 2 consecutive days this weekend. I was hoping the weather would be kind but the journey was awful. Extreme showers do not make for enjoyable towing conditions. We got there around 7:30pm Friday and found a spot to set up. The local curry house delivered us a great meal which went down well. It rained heavily throughout the night which gave cause for concern of tomorrows conditions on track..

Saturday morning: Scrutineering went fine and we looked to be first out, The weather was stunning, sunny and Hot. Andy set to be the opening car for the event. I ran a steady run, I had no idea as to the dampness of the tarmac so a conservative run was order of the day. Turns out I was pretty cautious with a 71.09s run. Rab ran shortly after with a 69.14s (I was suitably impressed as my pb from last season was a 69.05s). For run 2 I obviously needed to up my game so pushed on.  It felt pretty tidy but to see a 67.72s run took me by surprise, as it did Rab!

Lunch came and went and again I was first to run for the afternoon proceedings. TR1 saw 68.14 and I was a little disappointed - Rab went out determined to up the stakes so showing some commitment here is his run:

The marshals reported a heavy landing during the "off" but to be honest damage was minor and with the help of our pit crew we got it all patched up:

The main concern was over the front right tyre - it took a pounding sideways and had lost some pressure, but cleaning the seam and a re inflating to 50 PSI sorted the issue.

Timed run 2 - pressure was off me as I knew Rab would want to slow down a little and regroup. The run was quite clean and although I dipped back under 68s I felt the track was not offering the grip it had earlier in the day. Rab posted a 69.36 and reported a steady run. The days results gave me 2nd in class (from 4 entrants) the winner driving a lotus Elise at 63.5s times.

We lit the BBQ reviewed the video and debated Rabs issues with the rear grip. Tomorrow would see us get another go at the hill but this time Rab would 1st to drive and I would get the potential benefit of a warmed up car to run......

Loton Park - Pre-Event Preparation

Leading up to the weekend we had 2 jobs to tackle on the 205:

Fitting a data logger and improving the gear change issues that have haunted us since owning the car.

The data logger project hit a brick wall as it seems it has lost the ability to communicate with the memory card - so that's shelved for a later date. This is a shame as it would have allowed us to analyse the driving styles of both drivers.

The gear change issue needed some thought: - this eventually resulted in a rather obvious potential cause:
Engine mountings, could excessive engine / transmission movement be contributing? It would explain to a degree why the drivers suffered differing problems (Rab is much faster on the gear change - Andy is slower.....more mechanically sympathetic!). A quick inspection showed the lower rear mount is an uprated unit and in good condition, the top mount appeared ok - if perhaps a little soft in compound. This leaves the gearbox mount which seeing as the top looks pretty standard then presumably this would be too. At this stage I decided to order a replacement group N uprated gearbox mount, at £30 it was a pretty cheap way to ensure the mounting was sound. It arrived next day from Kamracing (Great service again chaps! - highly recommended supplier, see links). Fitting it was, as ever, last minute and as would happen a 5 minute job soon turned into a couple of hours. The new mount had a 12mm bore, but the mounting pin was 16mm, a 16mm shaft in a 12mm hole? well that's not going to work - perhaps more importantly this also revealed an issue. The existing mount had been modified to get over this fit problem, someone had removed the steel insert from the mount to allow fitment, pity as it effectively rendered the mount non-functional. Additionally and as suspected the mount was standard and soft compared to the new group N spec. So we modified the pin to suit the bush and turned it down on a lathe. The pin was made of good steel (not the normal "toffee" that Peugeot seemed to use) so it took some time on the little lathe.

Pin Machining

New mount prior to securing

Now all bolted up and battery back in place the success (I hope) would be realised once we had got through a few runs..........

Prescott 25-26th June - Report

The weekend preparation started at 1:00pm on Friday, a frantic effort to get everything set in the caravan and all the essential weekend supplies loaded. I helped Rab get the 205 ready to go on the trailer and was loading his van with way more bits than we were likely to need. I then popped back home grabbed the family car and hooked up the caravan, Jess loaded up the youngest son and we set off around 3:00pm. We stopped off on route to pick up my eldest son from school and continued on to Prescott.

As we arrived the weather was beginning to turn wet so we set up as fast as possible, as Rab was sleeping in the awning so that had to be completed first. Once set up we dropped the car to its home in the upper paddock and popped to Tesco for some extra fuel whilst Jess sorted the evening meal. As darkness began to fall Rab had realised he had forgotten to bring any form of bedding and we had left our spare sleeping kit at home, so we fell dependable on Tesco's yet again. The rain continued to fall and once settled in for the night I slept OK, Rab however didn't, apparently the rain was pretty loud.

Saturday morning was clear and bright, the track was still damp, certainly under the trees. We were passed off by the scrutineer with a couple of minor advisory points. Rab attended his first time driver briefing and I set up the on board camera. Rab was to run 1st as car no 95 - it took an hour or so to get to the first run. He reported it to be ok - if a little slippy in places. My 1st run was pretty gentle, seems I had forgotten most of the details since last year. So after breakfast we attempted our 2nd runs, Weather wise it was very hot now and with a dry track Rab went much faster and posted a 55.63s run - this equalled my best from last year, a good run 1st time here, it would appear that our new suspension set up was working well. My 2nd run resulted in a run of 54.96 - a surprise really as my ambition was a 55 for the weekend not practise 2!
For run 3 Rab had a pretty interesting time, rather than explain just check the video.....

For me run 3 was also pretty hot, I figured if Rab was trying so hard then I had better make the most of it as there was a chance I may not get another go! Run 3 was a 54.66 - very pleased with this time, but it was a bit sketchy so I vowed to try to tidy it up rather than trying to go any faster.

All looking very relaxed

Saturday was blazing hot and even though we made an effort to stay out of the sun we were both looking pretty burnt. We arrived back at camp to find that a french couple had set their tent between our caravan and our neighbors van. Why on earth they chose that spot was as it was a 6ft gap housing an 8ft tent. I couldn't even get between it and the caravan, and the neighbor couldn't get access to his van's back doors. However they had positioned their dining table just behind the van and the owner showed his discontent by letting his van idle diesel fumes for the hour or so while they ate - they didn't complain and in an odd way it was pretty funny.

A couple of beers and a BBQ helped to ease the effects of the sunburn. The boys made the most of the camping area and JJ had a tear about on his OSET electric trials bike. We reviewed the days on board footage and we agreed that tomorrow we both needed to "grow a pair" and stay flat on the gas through the1st left hander.

Sunday 7:45am and it was hot, so much so I just tried my best to stay in the shade - I was hoping for nice weather but at 7:45am this was almost freak. Around 8:30 Moose from Tripple X racing called to say he was on route and 15mins later I met him at the gate, great to have some support, thanks mate! We headed out for the first runs about 10:30, Rab reported to have ran ok but apparently lost some time as he hooked 5th rather than 3rd prior to the semi-circle. We adjusted the gate limiter (see earlier post) and I proceeded tackle the hill. I would be happy for a tidy run at low 55 maybe even a high 54, I ended up 55.09. That was Ok but the run felt a bit disjointed - I guess as a 1st time out I just didn't engage race mode. Having got that one out of the way I was confident  run 2 would be better.

They spend more time in the car than we do!

At this point we had more visitors in the form of a celebration of my grandads 90th birthday, and a group of aunties, uncles, cousins and children descended on Prescott. I think they all really enjoyed the day, the certainly weather helped and the track provided plenty of action.

The 2nd and final run came round eventually and Rab was obviously committed to making it count. unfortunately he hooked 5th instead of 3rd, again into the semi circle, the on board footage is not for public viewing, at least until I can figure out how to dub the language - a true scots response. I adjusted the gear gate again and awaited my turn,From the line the run was off to a good start, it hooked up well and I kept it pinned through the 1st left, got round ettore's with some effort and set up for the run to Pardon hairpin. Lets just say at this point the gearbox had other ideas on my progress......

The end result was a 56.04 which considering the gear change issue I think was good, even if very frustrating. Just glad the engine survived - well at least it still sounds ok!

So we need to develop the gear gate a little more and we also have a data logger we should fit soon....

Next outing Loton Park .........Can't wait